Arnold Palmer Memory Book (click to enlarge)

The United States Golf Association (USGA), of which I have been a member for years, launched a tribute to Arnold Palmer for his 80th birthday. It seems like just yesterday that I kept score for Arnie when one of the first PGA Senior Tour event was held at my home course of Marlborough Country Club. In honor of his birthday, the USGA is creating the Arnold Palmer Memory Book. According to an article on Mashable, the site is powered by private label social network provider KickApps.

The site allows users to share their personal memories of Arnie, telling stories via pictures, video or text. Stories range from professional golfers sharing their memories to sports fans reminiscing of their 30 seconds of fame. I shared my memory of Arnie during that tournament in 1982 when we were called off the course due to thunderstorms. While we were waiting out the storm in a neighbor’s basement, he was sitting next to me and, well the picture tells a thousand words. At the time, I didn’t know that this picture was taken until they gave it to me.

I have kept that memory of Arnold Palmer tucked away for years and am thrilled to be able to share it not only with Arnie through his social media birthday card, but also with everyone who has interest and cares about someone as special as him.

Given my involvement in social media and my love of sports, it is nice to see pro sports using all types of social media to engage fans, increase viewership of events and provide a means for us common, everyday athletes to participate in major events.

©2012 Masterful Marketing. All Rights Reserved.

USGA Tribute to Arnold Palmer is an original post from Debra Murphy, Small Business Marketing Coach: Masterful Marketing - Marketing in the New Media World. If you enjoyed this post, be sure to follow Debra on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.